Apparatus for cleaning textile machines



` June 12,v 1945. c. DE v. MILLER APPARATUS FOR CLEANIG TEXTILE MACHINES Filed Oct. 9, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet l ,NMR

IN VEN TOR.

CA1P/Pou pfv Maffia y :A rrozewys June 12, 1945 c. DE v. MILLER APPARATUS FOR CLEANING TEXTILE'MACHINES vFiled oct.- 9, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 J ,4 Troie/vfrs as spinning iframes,

` stantially closed .when

Patented June 12, 1945 APPARATUS Fon CLEANINGTEXTILE MACHINES 'Carroll vde v. Miller, .Rockyniver,

toA The American Monorail'Company,

Ohio, '-.ass'ignor Cleveland,

Ohio, acorporation of Ohio Application October 9, 1944,'Serial hlm/557,783 13.Clams. (Cl..230-270) This invention lrelates 'generally vto the art of cleaning .textile vmachinery land* the llike and relates vmore uparticularly to vblowingr apparatus which may becontrolled so as eifectively'to'clean operatingtextile machines and sofas not to-affect harmfully the roving and the like 'on idleftextile machines.

In the Lawrence'andZekely 'Patent No.12,175, 608 oi "October '10, 1939, is shown .blowing apparatus which travels over rows vof textile machines and discharges a stream of'air vdownwardly upontlie machines in such ay manner that they arekeptfree from harmful accumulations o'dust; lintand the like. The blowing apparatus .of thatpatent includes a'ffan 'which rotates within a vhousing and blows airdownwardly as the fan moves along fatrack disposed 'above and extending. lengthwise 4of a row of aligned textile machines. Frequently one or more'ofthe ,textile machines in-such a1 rowgsuch are shut down temporarily either tosuit'the productionschedule of the'mill or for setting-the machine vor making vrrepairs thereon.- Since the stream o'f'air from the Ablower may be movin-g at a' velocityA sufliciently. vhigh to 1 disturb seriously the roving on an vidlejmachine7 -itiis .desirable that'such disturbances `,ofthe roving `should be avoided. Yet atfthe same time sufficient air velocity. should be maintained'to prevent accumulation of dust and lint1 on the idle machine.y

V*In Y'the Lawrence U. S. Patent No. 2,291,598,

issued August 4, 1942, is disclosed lone meansof preventing such disturbance of the roving onan idle spinning frame. According to Athat `patent the passages, thru which air is takenfintojthe housing surrounding the rotating fan, I are subtheblower approaches an idle spinning frame and are opened as the blower moves beyond an idle frameor frames andap- .proaches an operating frame'. .Theclosin-g of' the airiintake passages, reduces the air discharged'by thelblower onto the idleframe ror frames there- `b eneathan'd minirnizes'or'avoids the disturbances oi theroving.

The v,present :invention solves 'the problem in a new :and diiferentmanner-'and .by new "and im' proved apparatus and a new and .improved mode of-.Operation` This inventionis based on the us nf'jthejfanrotating means to changequicklythe rotational' speed of the fanfrom one Ispeed to I another while continuing the rotation of the' fan.

LIn Athe `drawings accompanyingand forming a partof this specification,

Eigurei is-.a somewhat .schematiairagmentarm side elevational view of one embodiment of" the Ypresent vinvention 4as "applied `to a plurality 'of v spinningframes;` and, a

Figure'Zfis'an end elevational viewgpartly in section, taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

In Fig. 41 agplurality of spinning frames `I .are arranged end-to-'endlin'a row. An overhead conveyor 2 extends'lengthwise of the .frame I 'and centrally thereabove, and is suspended from suitable :overhead supports (not shown) by rods 3. The blower illustrated comprises atubular housing which is open at .the bottom, has intake openings 5 in its vertical side walls vand lhas'an upper closed end with :a fan-rotating motor "6 disposed above the closed end of the housing and afan 'I within the housing connected tothe rotorV shaft `8 of the motor 6. Theihousing 4, 'motor B and fan 'Iare'suspended by bracketsattached to the upper end of the housing 4 and a rod Ill which depcndsfroml atrolley frame I I andengages with brackets 9. Trolley wheels lI2 arranged vinpairs tor'un -on the outwardlyprojecting flanges of rail :2 are lrnounted'in Atrolley brackets I3 which'have swiveled` connections with frame I I and serve vto support the latter andthe housing and other parts just enumerated thru rod Inland brackets 9.

The frame II supports a yrotatable shaft on which isV mounted a wheel preferably including `a pneumatic tire, the periphery of which bears against the under surface of the rail 2. This wheel is rotatedby means of a motor I5 thru inter-engaging gears IIS and I'I on the motor and wheel shaft respectively. Obviously any other suitableand well known means may be employed for transmitting rotational. movement from vthe rotor of motor I5 tothe shaft of wheel I4.

The motor 'I5 is connected to a source of actu-y ating current by means of collectors I8 which are carried 'by arms extending 'upwardly from the brackets I3 and which have sliding engagement with conductors I9 supported by the hanger'rods 3 and connected -toa suitable source of electrical current. I

'.Itwill be understood from the foregoing that when current is` suppliedy to the conductors I 9 Athe motor I5 will actuatewheel I4 and thereby `will cause theframe I land the blower attached thereto to move at a constant speed along the track'Z 'above the spinning frame I.

Conductors connected to collectors Ii! supply the 'fanmotor with actuating current'thru a switch ZImounted vonthe blower'housingll. This switch may b e yof the starjwheel type, thatV is, it maybe provided with la wheel, such as 22,-which has a plurality'of radial iingersand which'is `se- .switch 2| is accordingly provided with a pair of stationary switching elements for each f these speeds and the star wheel shaft 2d is also provided with switching elements which may be brought alternately into connection with these I the rotor is rotating at a speed above the lower synchronous speed. The rotor will thereafter fall in speed to 850 R. P. M. owing to being loaded by xed switching elements sc that when the-star Y wheel 22 is actuated thru one step current will be supplied to the set of windings on the motor which will result in the rotor rotating at a speed of about 1750 R. P. M. and when the star wheel is rotated another step those connections will be broken and connections will be made between the source of current and the other set of windings which will result inv rotating the rotor of motor 6 at a speed of about 900 R. P. M. The next actuaton of the star wheel thru one step will disconnect the low speed windings and connect the high speed windings with the source of current,

thereby increasing the speed of the rotor of motor 6.

Means for actuating the star wheel 22 thru one step, as `iust described, is shown in Figs. l and 2. This means, illustrated, includes an arm 25 which at one end may be supported by a rail hanger 26 projecting upwardly from between'the assembled halves of the rail 2, and which extendsl horizontally out from hanger 26 to a point beyond the motor I 5 and then projects downwardly to a point just above the star wheel22. At its lower end the arm 25 pivotally supports a lever 21 which is disposed directly above the star wheel 22 and is kept out of engagement with that wheel by any suitable means such as coil spring 23. A rope or cable 29 is attached to one end of lever 21 and is threaded over a pulley wheel 3D supported above and at one side of the rail 2 so as to clear-the side of the blower.

One of the star wheel actuating units just described may be permanently installed at the trailing end of each spinning frame, that is, the trailing end of the frame considering the direction of the movement of the blower thereover; or, two of these units may be readily installed, one in advance of the leading end and the other near the trailing end of a spinning frame when the latter is idle or is to cease operation. Obviously two of such units will suffice when two or more consecutively positioned machines are to be idle simultaneously.

The mode of operation of the hereinbe-fore described apparatus is substantially as follows: Assuming that the middle' frame on Fig. 1 is idle while the end frames are operating, and that the blower is moving along track 2 in the direction of the arrow with the fan motor rotating at about 1750 R. P. M., the free ends of the ropes or cables 29 of the star wheel actuating units are pulled so that the` spring 28 is stretched and the spring-em Y gaged ends of levers 27 are moved downwardly far enough to engage a radial arm on the star wheel 22 when the latter passes therebeneath, and the ropes are then secured to hold the levers in that position. Under these conditions one arm of the star wheel 22 will engage the rst or leftthe blower fanafter the inertia energy has been dissipated by the braking eiTect, and the rotor will continue to rotate at that speed until the second or righthand lever 27 engages another arm on the star wheel and rotates it thru about 60 degrees, thereby interrupting the flow of current to the low speed windings of the motor il and connecting the current with the high speed windings of the motor. Thereupon the rotational speed of the motor roto-r increases quickly so that by the time the blower reaches the near end of the righthand frame which is operating, the rotational speed of the rotor will be about i750 R. P. M. In this manner the fan is Operated continuously but its speed is automatically increased when the blower leaves an idle machine and approaches an operating machine, such speed being suicient to blow enough air, or air at a high enough velocity to remove dust, lint and the like from the operating machine and is automatically brak-ed and decreased when the blower leaves an operating machine and approaches an idle machine to such an extent that the stream of air from the blower will not be suciently great in amount cr velocity to seriously disturb the roving on the idle spinning frame but will be suiiicient to agitato lint in the air and tend to prevent it from settling on the idle machine.

This application is a continuation-.impart of my copending application Ser. No. 470,457, nled December 29, 1942. y

Altho I prefer to use a squirrel cage, induction. two-winding motor to rotate the fan, other types of braking motors may be used if desired. For example, I may use an A. C. motor having one winding and a pole changing controller or contactor, or a dual synchronous motor, or two motors of diierent speeds connected to the same ian shaft with power applied alternately to these motors.

Having thus described my invention so that others skilled in the art may be able to understand and practice the same, I state that what A I desire to secure by Letters Patent is defined in what is claimed.

What is claimed is:

l. Apparatus of the class described comprising a track extending lengthwise of and above a line of textile machines arranged in a row, a blower to run along said track and to blow air down onto said machines, electrical multi-speed motor means of the type serving asa brake in the lower speed setting when driven above its lower speed operatively connected to the blower for actuating said blower at different speeds, and means for changing the speed of said motor means from one to another of said speeds.

2. Apparatus of the class described comprising a track extending lengthwise of and above a line of textile machines arranged in 'a rov/a blower to run along said track and to blow air down onto of said windings,

said machines, and electrical, multi-speed motor means operatively connected to said blower to actuate the latter at different speeds, said motor means being of the braking type and serving automatically to reduce the speed of the blower when the speed of the motor means is changed to a lower speed.

3. Apparatus of the class described comprising a track extending lengthwise of and above a line of textile machines arranged in a, row, a fan to run along said track and to blow air down onto said machines, a multi-speed alternating current motor having a rotor operatively connected to said fan to actuate the latter, the motor being of the type having a synchronous speed in each speed setting which it tends to approach in operation, and means for energizing said motor to actuate said rotor at any one of at least two diiferent speeds.

4. Apparatus of the class described comprising a track extending lengthwise of and above a line of textile machines arranged in arow, a fan to run along said track andto blow air down onto said machines, a. multi-speed alternating current motor having a rotor operatively connected to said fan to actuate lthe latter, the motor being of the type having a synchronous speed in each speed setting which it attends to approach in operation, current conducting means for energizing said motor, and means for changing the rotational speed of said rotor'from one speed to another of the speedsof said motor.- f

5. Apparatus of the class described comprising a track extending lengthwise of and above a line of textile machines arranged in a row, a fan to run along said track and to blow air down onto said machines, a squirrel cage, induction type,

`alternating current motor having a rotoroperatively connected to'said fan to actuate the latter and having two separate windings for two diiferent rotationalspeeds of the rotor, current conducting means for energizing one or-the other of said windings, and a switch movable with said motor for connecting said current conducting means with one or the other of said windings.

6. Apparatus of the class described comprising a track extending lengthwise of and above a line of textile machines arranged in a row, a fan to run along said track and to blow air down onto said machines, a squirrelcage, induction type, alternatingy current motor having a rotor operatively connected to said fan to actuate the latter and having two separate windings for two different rotational speeds of the rotor, current conducting means for energizing one or the other a switch movable with said motor for connecting said current conducting means with one or the other of said windings, and means at predeterminedpoints along said track for actuating said switch as it moves therepast.

7. Apparatus of the class described comprising a track extending lengthwise of and above a line of textile machines arranged in a row, a fan to run along said track and to blowy air down onto said machines, an alternating current motor having a rotor operatively connected to said fan to actuate the latter and having one winding and a pole changer for rotation of the rotor at two diiferent rotational speeds, and means for actuating said al speed of said rotor from one speed to another speed.

8. Apparatus of the class described comprising a track. extending lengthwiseof and above a line of textile machines arranged in a row, a .blower adapted to run along'a track above a line of textile machines and to'blow air downwardly onto said machines, said blower comprising a fan, a dual synchronous, alternating current motor having a rotor operatively connected to said fan to rotate the latter at different rotational speeds, and means for connecting a source of alternating current with said motor to actuate the rotor thereof at one or the other of its two synchronous speeds.

9. Apparatus of -the class described comprising a track extending lengthwise of and above a line of textile machines arranged in a row, a fan to run along said track and to blow air down onto said machines, -a dual synchronous, alternating current motor having a rotor operatively connected to said fan to rotate the latter at different rotational speeds, and 'means for connecting a source of' alternatingcurrent with said motor to actuate the rotor thereof atone or the other of its synchronous speeds.

10. A blower adapted to run along a track above a line of textile machines andto blow air downwardly onto said machines, said blower comprising a fan having a vertical shaft, electrical multi-speed motor means of the type inherently braking when driven above its lower speed, operatively connected to said shaft forrotating the shaft and fan at different speeds, and means for actuating said motor means to rotate said shaft and fan at one or another of the diierent speeds of said motor means.

11. A blower adapted to run along a track above a line of textile machines and to blow air downwardly onto said machines, said blower comprislng afan having a vertical shaft, a squirrel cage, induction type, alternating current motor having a rotor operatively connected to said fan shaft and having a plurality of separate windings for actuation of the rotor at different rotational speeds, means for connecting a source of alternating current selectively with one or another of said windings, and means for actuating said connecting means.

12. A blower adapted to run on a track above a line of textile machines and toblow air downf Wardly onto said machines, said blower comprising a fan having a vertical shaft, an alternating current motor having a rotor operatively connected to said shaft and having one winding and a pole changer, means for connecting a source of alternating current with said winding, and means for actuating said pole changer.

13. A blower adapted to run along a track above a line of textile machines and to blow air downwardly onto said machines, said blower comprising a fan having afvertical shaft, a dual synchronous, alternating current motor having a rotor operatively connected to said shaft, means forconnecting a source of alternating current to said motor, and means for changing the speed of said rotor from one to the other of the two synchronous speeds of the motor.

CARROLL DE V. MILLER. 

